In the decades since Ukraine gained independence, music has played a vital role in shaping and expressing a modern sense of national identity. This has been especially visible in the creative ways artists have drawn from the country’s folk traditions—adapting village songs, instruments, and motifs into new genres that resonate with contemporary audiences. Whether through […]

The first rap that Oleh Psiuk ever wrote was a diss on his school teacher, much to the joy of his fellow classmates. He was only 15 years old, on track to become an engineer like his father. He loved music and was an avid listener of artists like Eminem, NWA, Eazy E, and Ice […]

When asked to describe herself, Alina Pash proudly declares that she is “100% Bitanga” (a word from the Rusyn language meaning “Hooligan”). True to that characterization, she often pushes boundaries through both her personal style and the content of her music. Not wanting to conform to anyone else’s agenda, she even created her own music […]

Таras Коmpanichenkо (Тарас Компаніченко) is an influential Ukrainian singer-songwriter, recording artist, kobzar, banduryst (a player of the Ukrainian bandura), lutenist, lira player, and composer. Коmpanichenkо is an active participant in the Kobzar Guild (Kobzarskyi Tsekh) as well as the musical ensembles Chorea Kozacka (Хорея Козацька) and Sarmatica (Сарматика). He was an active participant in the […]

Taras Chubay (Тарас Григорович Чубай) is Ukrainian rock musician, poet, singer, composer, and leader of the seminal Ukrainian rock band Plach Yeremii (Плач Єремії). Through his poetic sensibilities and popular music, Chubay played a major role in the development of post-Soviet Ukrainian art. Chubay was born in 1970 in the city of Lviv, Ukraine. His […]

Taras Petrynenko (Тарас Гаринальдович Петриненко) is a Ukrainian musician, singer, composer, and poet. He is known as the author of the song “Ukraine” (“Україна”), which has become a de facto anthem of the country. Some of his other well-known songs are “Song About a Song” (“Пісня про пісню”), “Lord, Have Mercy On Us” (“Господи, помилуй […]

ManSound (МенСаунд) is a Ukrainian vocal sextet from Kyiv. They have taken part in numerous jazz festivals around the world, including the prestigious Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in the United States. In 2001 they were named “Best Vocal Group” by the All-American Entertainment Awards and won first prize at Vokal Total’s international a cappella competition. […]

Sofia Rotaru (Софiя Ротару) is an enormously popular and influential Soviet, Ukrainian, and Romanian/Moldovan singer. Her career has lasted almost 50 years and is still going, and she has not only won most of the major music awards and lifetime achievement awards, but she is also a People’s Artist of both Ukraine and Moldova and a […]

Zlata Ognevich (Злата Огнєвіч; real name Inna Leonidivna Bordyug, Інна Леонідівна Бордюг) is a Ukrainian pop singer and political activist. She sings mainly in Ukrainian, though sometimes also in Russian and English. Ognevich was born in Murmansk, Russia, to Serbian and Italian parents, but they moved to Sudak, a city in Crimea, when she was […]